


come to grips with reality

by highkeylowkeynervous



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Every sanders sides fic i write has roceit, I dont even like Roceit all that much but, Idk if Remus will show up or not, It's The Yearning, M/M, Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, based off a fic i read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24815437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highkeylowkeynervous/pseuds/highkeylowkeynervous
Summary: ---ON HIATUS---Ordered to be tracked and killed for existing, The Dragon Prince Deciet hid. And so he was hunted by Prince Roman. And so he joined a party, hoping to finally be free. And so he is caught by The Collector. There is no rest for the Wicked. Not yet, at least.((continuation of TheFoxofFiction's 'The Collector' fic because my brain went apesh*t trying to give it a happy ending.))
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Implied Roceit - Relationship, Somewhat Implied Moxiety
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. yes it is he

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheFoxofFiction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoxofFiction/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Collector](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17889146) by [TheFoxofFiction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoxofFiction/pseuds/TheFoxofFiction). 



> Hello! This is my second posted fic so far, so advice is welcomed! This is gonna be a short little fic, maybe like 3-5 chapters. This is based off TheFoxofFiction's lovely little fic 'The Collector'. I reccomend reading it to have some context for this, it's also just a fun read! Hopefully I'll have this fic done by like end of July, but we'll see. Thanks for reading!!

It was quiet as the party continued on the path of The Collector.

Virgil was leading, using some spell to track Dee's- Deceit's trail. He kept a calm face, but his tail flicked back and forth sharply as he moved. Patton followed closely behind him, fretfully looking back to check on the others every so often.

It was the same every time.

  
Roman, a few feet behind him, brimming with rage and betrayal. His sword was sheathed, but his hand clutched the handle tightly, his posture tense.

Logan wasn't much better, looking for all the world a mix between concerned and conflicted, no doubt unaccustomed to such complicated feelings. (Or such strong ones.)

They were all clearly upset.

Roman hadn't even wanted to go after "Prince Deceit" at first, but after Virgil and Patton's reveal, he had quieted and seemed to consider something.

He was atill quiet as Logan badgered Virgil and Pat with questions, before taking charge and asking Virgil if he could track The Collector. He then asked Patton to explain how he had freed Virgil and what they should expect from The Collector.

After Virgil had gotten a trail for them, Patton had suggested they follow as quickly as possible, but Logan insisted they waited to regroup and think of a plan. Virgil cut in however, that the trail wouldn't last long before they lost The Collector entirely.

There was a beat of silence, no one knowing what they should do.

"We can't waste any more time then." Roman broke the tension, his eyes determined, his tone final. "We move now."

\---

Janus should've known it was going to end like this. He should've know.  
After all those years of being hunted, after all the years of lies and deception, you'd think he'd know better than to get attached.

(No one could love a liar like him.)

But he had stayed anyway.

He stayed and got attached. He stayed and felt safe instead of scared. He stayed and felt loved. (He stayed and he _lied._ )

The lies and the glamorous promised him love. He couldn't get enough of it. _It was addicting._

And just like an addiction, it was dangerous.

He should've just killed him and left. Killed that beautiful prince and gone back to living his life through hiding and lying. Never showing his scales or his wings. Never knowing love. Never knowing what he was missing.

Sometimes he thinks he should've let Roman skewer him. It would saved the princes a lot of trouble, it he had just laid down and died for his crime instead of running.

(His crime was as simple as it was cruel. He was born. There was no greater offense.)

The Royal Court insisted his death would keep the kingdom peaceful. That it would be safer that way. Better, that way. Better without the dangerous and deceitful Dragon Prince.

Dragon Prince Deceit.

That's who he was. But Janus didn't feel like Prince Deceit, master of lies and deception. He felt like a scared kid who'd been hunted like a animal for his entire life.

He just wanted a chance to live. A chance to be loved. A chance was all he wished for.

But Janus had become too selfish with his wish, staying with them. Too careless.  
Mage Dee had been a wonderful dream come true. A dream that Janus knew, would now never come true.

Not when he had these scales,

these wings,

these horns.

Not while he lives as a monster.  
Monsters don't get to have wishes or dreams. And they certainly don't get to be loved.

Love was for humans.


	2. but not as you know him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman considers Dee, how he knew him, and how he didn't.  
> \---  
> As sunlight peaked through the bars of the Dragon Prince's cage, Janus felt his eyes well with tears, they rolled down his face as the burns on his wings stung harshly in the cool air.

The group had made camp for the night, Virgil and Patton certain that they could locate The Collector's hideout from memory at this point. Sitting in front of the fire, Roman held a thin sword, considering it.

_"You haven’t told them who you really are?”_

No matter how hard he tried, Roman's mind kept repeating those words over in and over again. _Who you really are._ The magician, the "Collector", as Virgil had called him, had said it so easily, as if they knew more about the mage than any of them had. More than Roman had. Roman had thought he'd known the most about Dee out of everyone. Roman had thought those long nights under the stars filled with quiet songs and quieter words had been who he was. He thought that the bit and pieces of a past Roman noticed, a past Dee regretted, had been who he was. Roman thought the shared battles, the shared meals, the shared feelings, he thought they all had meant something.

Did Roman really not know Dee? Was it all just a lie to him? Why had he joined their party in the first place? _(Why had he saved Roman that day, if he knew Roman was sent out to kill him?)_

_“Princy, princy, princy, after all this time, we finally meet again.”_

The utter panic on Dee's face at those words had confused (and concerned) Roman, but he hadn't had the time to really think about it.

_"And you even used such an ugly and disgusting glamour on top of it." '_

_A glamor huh?'_ Roman couldn't help but wonder what Dee _(Could he really call him that anymore? Was he supposed to start calling him Deciet? Roman never knew a Deceit, he only knew Dee,)_ really looked like behind his magic.

Even after the Collector had stripped the mage's disguise off, Roman had been to shocked to get a good look at him. He had only caught of glimpse of the scales, the wings, the horns, the tail and before he was consumed with betrayal.

But as Dee had looked at them all with those desperate eyes, Roman's anger stuttered in his chest. He could only watch hopelessly as Dee spread his shimmering wings and left them on the ground. But he didn't get far before the creepy magician had seized him and shrunk him down, Roman and the others helplessly watching in horror. His beautiful looking wings were pinched harshly by the magician, and he was dumped in a bottle.

A bottle to far away for Roman to see Dee's despaired expression through the glass. Too far for Roman to reach. _(Too far for Roman to save.)_

As soon as the magician and his captive had disappeared, Roman had immediately started yelling at Patton and Logan, arguing that they 'Never should have trusted him in the first place,' _(Roman truly didn't really think that, but the hurt, anger, and betrayal miximg with thinly veiled concern had escaped Roman in that moment, his emotions pouring out for everyone to see.)_

Roman continued to stare at the thin blade, glowing in the fire light. Thoughts rushed through his head faster than he could register them. However, several seemed to keep repeating over and over again. _He lied to us, He knew I was sent to kill him, He deserves what he got, He saved my life, He's the Dragon Prince, He's Dee, He's..._ Even if Dee had lied to them, he still had questions Roman needed answered. No collector was going to stop him from getting them either. Roman was a Knight, and Knights were honorable and determined. Knights needed to know the purpose behind their loyalty, their actions, their orders.

So Roman was doing this for answers. He was doing it for his oath, to hunt down the Dragon Prince. There was no other reason. There wasn't. He just needed answers.

\---

Janus blinked awake as he felt sunlight come to rest on his scales. It had been so long since he was able to sleep without his glamor, the sun felt lovely on his real skin. Janus still felt stiff though, a dull ache had seemed to settle in his joints. The Dragon tried stretching his wings out, only to feel the skin burn as his wings grazed solid iron. He snapped his eyes open, feeling panic wash over him as he realized his wings were out.

_Why was his glamor off?_  
_What if they saw? Why did they burn? Were they going to cut them off? What if Roman saw them? What if-_

Janus's thoughts cut off abruptly as remembered where he really was.   
An iron cage that hung in the light of a large barred window, with Janus was trapped inside, like a miserable canary. 

Janus moved closer to the window, (to the bars) a clawed hand to the reaching out toward the confines of his prison. Janus stopped before he touched the bar however, noticing his gloves had been removed.   
_'Can't even let me be dramatic, can you?'_  
Janus let out a bitter laugh, resting back on his heels. He was careful to avoid touching the bars again.  
At the reminder of the iron surrounding him, his wings stung, as if finally aware they had been wounded. Stretching them out, (this time not as far nor as carelessly,) he winced. The damage luckily hadn't been too bad, but it would be painful for several days before healing.

Something cold came across Janus at that moment, as he worried if they would heal in just a few days.  
_'It may take weeks to heal, without any of my magic.'_

Deciding to ignore that for now, Janus wondered when he was moved from the bottle on the shelf to the cage by the window. His memories of the night before were muddled, only being able to remember that he had almost passed out from dehydration, crying his weight in tears. Janus could almost recall The Collector babbling on about "his precious new dragon specimen," but had been so destitute that he had barely registered it.

Shifting in the uncomfortable nest made of his own cloak and tattered shirt, Janus curled into a ball. Trying to use his wings to cover himself, he curled them around his body, but choked back a cry as that little amount of movement sent waves of pain through his body. Not only that, Janus could feel the ache of his missing magic from the top of his horns, to his the tip of his tail. In his scales and wings he felt cold, no warmth from his magic to pulse through him. 

_'How long can I really survive without my magic?'_ Janus wondered, _'Even with the glamor, I've never felt this exhausted.'_  
Janus let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

_'Roman...would you save me? Even after I became what you were hunting?'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I've actually had this written since I posted the first one, but it took me a hot minute to finish the details and figure formatting on ao3. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it!! Comments, Kudos, and any advice you wanna give is welcomed!  
> \---  
> Edit: I added what was chapter 3 here because I decided it fit better continuity wise


	3. Collector's Notes For Dragon Keeping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've been running on empty for ideas for this lately so I thought I would post a lil bonus chapter till I get back to the main story. This is gonna be about the types of dragons there are and which characters are what dragons. Its not vitally important to the story, but it adds to the worldbuilding! Happy reading folks!

All dragons have essential needs that need to be met for the to properly survive in captivity. 

My former specimen was a particularly powerful Storm Dragon. Meaning his enclosure needed a powerful enchantment to keep up a tempest within the cage.

My newest and loveliest sample is a Sunning Snake Dragon, or it's colloquial name, the Sun Dragon. Direct Sunlight along with heat in general, are essential to his survival. It is as vital as water. He would wither and wilt without it.  
This is a relatively easy need to be met within captivity, as placing the enclosure near an open window can suffice, but extra precautions can be necessary, especially with this rare specimen. A sun enchantment within the cage should provide enough heat and artificial sunlight, but natural is preferable.

Other dragon types in my collection feature the notable and notorious Skink Dragon (more commonly known as the Slime Dragon or even as the Stink Dragon).  
Unlike its brethren, this dragon does not possess natural magic, but is far more clever. It requires a moist environment.  
However, these dragons do not usually prosper in captivity, as they have very large territories and tend to harm themselves in enclosures that are too small. Without the proper enrichment from their natural habitat's they can become lethargic and depressed, refusing to eat or move.  
There is, however, a solution to this problem.  
Using the Locator enchantment you can charm your enclosure into a homemade labyrinth.  
But be warned, Skink Dragons are very clever.  
When this charm is used, they can be very hard to catch or removed from their enclosures, as they are quick and slippery, and use the labyrinth to evade handling. To combat this, a Carpet charm can also be used to make the enclosure appear bigger in the inside than the outside. If you are unable to perform the Carpet charm, removing the Locator charm anytime you need to handle them will work, but doing this too frequently can depress the dragon, so only use it as a last resort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos, as well as any advice/constructive criticism, are welcomed!


	4. read my lips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skink Dragons, while not possessing any natural magic of their own, are far more clever than most dragons.

"Those wounds look pretty nasty, my serpentine cellmate."

A nasally voice broke through Janus's rest, snapping him awake and catching him off gaurd.

"Now I know what you're thinking." The voice continued,

"Is that heavenly voice I hear the gods speaking down to me from the heavens?"

Janus tried lifting his head up to search for the speaker, but found himself almost to exhausted to move his head from in between his knees.

"The answer, good fellow, is no, the gods are not speaking to you. Hard to believe, I know, but the gods are monarchist propaganda."

That made him snort, and then groan as he felt a sharp pain through his wings as his body tried to laugh.

There was a pause from the voice above him, and then,

"Ol' Sticky Fingers did a number on ya, didn't they?" The voice sounded almost sympathetic, and Janus got the feeling they knew all too well the damage the Collector could do.

"He mossst cssertainly did."  
Janus couldn't keep the hiss out of his voice, too tired and too injured to bother.

"Rough, my friend, and not even in a fun way!"  
The crassness of the comment didn't escape Janus, but he decided to ignore it in favor of asking some very pressing questions.

"May I care to make your acquaintancssse?"  
Janus tried not to cringe at the prominent hiss in his voice, and to his relief, the stranger didn't seem interested in commenting on it.

"Why of course, mysterious stranger!" The nasally voice finally got a name then, "You may call me, Remus!"

Of course it had an s. Janus fought the urge to groan.

"Remusss...a pleasssure really." The name rang a bell, but Janus's mind was far too distracted to trace it anywhere.

"Though I do wishh we could have met somewhere lessss... conffined."

With a small, relatively painless, glance around, Janus spotted a large enclosure above him. From the underside, he could see a Skink Dragon.

Janus was too far, and in too much pain, to make out any of the finer details of Remus's face, but could see a streak of white running through brown cropped hair, and a wirey mustache.

Maybe if Janus focused on the Skink Dragon, he could see familiarity in their features, but Janus could barely keep his head lifter to stare for longer than a few seconds.

"Not to be rude, my fellow compatriot in captivity, but you do see to remind me of a certain snake my prince of a brother knows."

Remus had zeroed in on the Sun Dragon's scales, the almost unnatural shine a mark of strong magic among dragons. Remus noticed as their fellow reptile had curled his tail closer, and his injured wings twitched as they tried pulling closer toward the Sun Dragon.

Remus continued on with their story, watching the reaction of their unnamed cellmate all the while.

"You see, you my goody two-shoes of a brother decided he was going hunt down the Dragon Prince!" Janus's already tight posture got sharper as he hugged his knees closer to his body, useless wings twitching in response.

"Pretty presumptuous of his to assume that the Dragon Prince wasn't already hunting him, if you ask me."

Remus cackled as the Dragon Prince's head shot up, his face cringing as he remembered his wounds all at once.

"How-" A hiss of pain cut off his question.  
"How," Janus tried again, "did you know I was hunting down the Prince?"

"Simple really," the Skink Dragon answered. "My foolish brother told me all about it!"

And with that, the pieces finally clicked for Janus.

"You're Roman's twin? You're Remus?" A demented smile took over the Skink Dragon's sickly features.

"Indeed I am!"


End file.
